Keep the heavier hulls. Shouldn't be more than 10-12 lbs per hull on the average. Besides, the chances of you finding a light hull set that has survived.....that someone wants to sell...........is unlikely.

Is it possible for the foam flotation blocks behind the daggerboard wells to get waterlogged? I ask this because my buddy and I both have 1982 boats yet his H18 is MUCH heavier than mine. Granted, his boat has a solid stick and mine has a comptip but there's no way the solid mast would account for the kind of weight difference I'm talking about. Put it this way: I mainly sail solo and thus end up muscling my boat around the beach by myself most of the time. With his boat its a two-man chore all the way (I'm not sure I could manage to get his boat onto a set of beach wheels by myself even if I had to). I'm convinced either his floats are waterlogged and/or his hulls are packed with sand. If it was my boat I'd look into snaking a shop vac hose into the hulls and possibly removing the floatation foam alltogether. What else could it be?

Personally, I leave my drain plugs out whenever the boat is out of the water, and I routinely remove the hatch covers for long periods, weather forecast permitting. Yeah, she's a "heavy" 1982 model but the old gal sure does get up and go when the winds a blowin'.

What I have found in a few situations is there is crap in the hulls. If you leave the ports off the top side you make an excellent nesting location for birds, mice, rats or anything else that can fit through the ports. Most of the time it ends up at the back of the hulls in a lump of something you would see in a storm drain or worse.

One boat I rebuilt came from near the Palm Springs Desert. It was full (and I mean to the top) of cactus, rocks and anything else that rat found in the desert. I got the majority of all of it out before I became aware the darn rat was still in there. Hmmmmmmm.......now what........I gases him with the exhaust of my jeep and never got him out. Ha! I call that boat "Rat-a Cat".

A lot of good it did me, the new owner (which still sails it often) has half filled it with beer cans. Go figure

Harry Murphey wrote:

I read somewhere's years ago that fiberglass can absorb and retain up to 30-40% of it's weight in water

Foreign material like leaves and other crap can absorb major water and add lots of weigh.

The H18 guys back in the day (the ones that established the Portsmouth number) must have been some freaking awesome sailors. When I raced my H18 a couple years ago, I got my hind-end handed to me on a corrected basis. Can you say DFL? How about every darn race? Quite discouraging.

I realize that Portsmouth numbers should never theoretically go down, but...

So last year I had an opportunity to race an older Nacra F18 for the season. Well, low and behold I'm not quite as crappy a sailor as I was starting to think I was. Not quitting my day job or anything, but we got some decent finishes my rookie year (last year).

Point is, I hear ya Aaron. H18 is a tough boat to sail Portsmouth in. Light boat, new sails, etc. might give you a chance. But, by the time you put all that money in to it, a used Tiger with a nice big spinnaker starts to look mighty appealing.

My H18 is now my rec boat, and I still love it, but for different reasons .

Aaron, many racers become obssesed with boat and crew weight. While it is true that boat weight will impact boat performance, in most cases (and especially with the Hobie 18) this impact can be minor to non-existant. There are numerous factors that determine the outcome of a race from tuning to boat handling and tactics. These all have differing amounts of impact on performance and race results. I've been racing the Hobie 18 for roughly 20 years and I can tell you with absolute certainty that boat handling and tactics have a much more significant impact on race results than a few extra pounds of hull weight. None the less, people focus on weight, I guess because its a very tangible factor: more weight = bad, less weight = good. I'd suggest you follow your plan of running with your current hulls. Do as others have suggested and get some heat and a small fan inside the hulls and get them as dry as possible. The point is, try not to place more emphasis on weight than necessary. Its important, but there are other factors that are even more important.

I see you're from NJ. I think you and I have messaged before, but anyway, so you know you are in one of the more active H18 regions of the country and we have a pretty strong core group of 18 racers although it has been thinning out a little in the last year or two we typically see around 5 to 10 racers at Division 11 regattas. You should definitely consider checking out some regattas in NJ. Its a good group and I think you will find one design racing to be a lot more enjoyable than handicap. When you race one design, you know exactly how well you did as soon as you cross the finish line.

The H18 guys back in the day (the ones that established the Portsmouth number) must have been some freaking awesome sailors.[/quote

Me thinks this is not true. There was no open class racing racing back in the day so Portsmouth numbers did not matter. Unfortunately for most of us in open class land this is the nail in the coffin.

Quote:

I am concerned about the weight because I want to get more involved with racing at my club. The 18 dosn't have a very favorable Portsmouth rating and we have a lot of newer F18's in out fleet.

The 18 has a terrible and completely unrealistic rating. Unless you can race OD your better off with a different boat. If you have no OD racing around like most of us the boat performs alot better singlehanded. (screwed on the number anyways)

I have messaged you in the past. I have been conspiring on how to get on the water with you since.

I know a lot of ppl get over focused on equipment issues, but my boat is waaayy heavier than all of the other 18's on our beach.

We had at least four new members join with H18's last year, and all of their boats were considerably lighter than might. Mine really feels twice as heavy as some of the late 80's boats that just joined.

I will try to get to more Division 11 events outside our club this summer. Especially the Barnegat Breezer I didn't realize that was a Hobie 18 event.

In the mean time three of the Division 11 events are at our club on the sandy hook bay maybe I will see you there!

I will try to get to more Division 11 events outside our club this summer. Especially the Barnegat Breezer I didn't realize that was a Hobie 18 event.

Sounds good, you should see if you can get any of the other new 18 sailors to join you. Just to clarify, all of the Division 11 regattas are "Hobie 18 events", in that all HCA classes are welcome at these events (H14, 16, 17, 18, 20, Wave, etc). This year the Breezer is the Division 11 H18 championship regatta which just means that it's the annual regatta for the perpetual trophy, so generally draws a few more boats in that class.

aaron-hobie wrote:

In the mean time three of the Division 11 events are at our club on the sandy hook bay maybe I will see you there!

Not sure what the other two division 11 events are that you're refering to, but we should be at the regatta in June, although I'll probably be on my 17 (this year it's the H17 championship regatta).

Aaron,its good to hear there will be more H18's in Division 11 this season. I spent many years racing in the division during the 80's (I also live in NJ), and had planned on getting back on the circuit in 2013 to test my chops, now that my boat is back in racing form (1988 H18).I've long considered the Sandy Hook Catamaran Club, as it is convenient for me. It's a pricey proposition.

since there are now many more 18's on the beach, have you compared weight to the rest?

Aaron,its good to hear there will be more H18's in Division 11 this season. I spent many years racing in the division during the 80's (I also live in NJ), and had planned on getting back on the circuit in 2013 to test my chops, now that my boat is back in racing form (1988 H18).I've long considered the Sandy Hook Catamaran Club, as it is convenient for me. It's a pricey proposition.

since there are now many more 18's on the beach, have you compared weight to the rest?

Hey OlderBowman,

I'm member SHBCC I highly recommend joining. We are opening the beach this weekend.

A lot of H18's have been joining the club. I want to get some one design races going, but I noticed I can easily lift the some of the other boats from the bridle wires. With mine it takes all of my strength to lift all of as high as I can easily lift other boats. I have not weighted any boats. If I could I would love to know the difference because it is substantial.

If you are free on Saturday come down a check the place out. We are doing a beach clean up starting at 9 am, and then will have meeting to discuss the season.